The first official racing of the 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race takes place on the 14 October with the first In-Port race in the start port of Alicante.
Who will win the first points scoring event of the race? The start gun is at 14:00 local time (12:00 UTC) as seven of the best sailing teams in the world push hard to lay down a marker ahead of the main race start.
“You always go out and want to win,” said Bouwe Bekking, skipper of Team Brunel, who will have Alberto (Albi) Bolzan on the helm for the race. “He’s an excellent helmsman. He has a lot of hours driving these boats but he’s also one of the smaller guys on board and it’s important to have power on the winches for these in-port races.”
“I think the most important thing for the in-port race is to treat it as practice for the race start for the offshore leg,” said Charles Caudrelier, speaking from experience after starting behind the fleet on the Prologue leg. “Even on the long legs, the start is important… it helps the team to be confident to get the lead early.”
“A lot of the sailors on our team come from short course racing,” said Dee Caffari the skipper on Turn the Tide on Plastic. “So they get a real buzz out of this. They’re all over this style of racing. I have to remind them that a Volvo Ocean 65 takes a bit longer to manoeuvre and we can’t go as close to the other boats as they’re used to, so I have to manage expectations a bit!”
The In-Port Race Alicante is two laps of a windward-leeward course, set with a target time of 45-minutes. The course is set up with a gate system, with two top (windward) marks and two bottom (leeward) marks.
In Friday’s practice session, MAPFRE took the win over Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag, who impressed with their best showing, and Vestas 11th Hour Racing, who took third place, completing the podium.
The seven Volvo Ocean Race skippers will have a final oppourtunity to tune their boats on the Prologue Leg, a non-scoring race to the start port of Alicante, Spain. It’s a last chance for teams to lock in crew configurations and get in some speed testing against the competition ahead of the start of Leg 1 on October 22.
“This is the last opportunity for all of the boats to face each other before we start,” says Mark Towill of Vestas 11th Hour Racing. “We’ll be lining up against the other teams to check the things we’ve learned during testing compared to the rest of the fleet.”
Towill and his team have been training against team AkzoNobel. The Dutch team’s Luke Molloy spoke of the benefit from the sessions.
“The two boat training sessions we did with Vestas 11th Hour Racing were definitely very valuable and actually quite eye opening in a few areas,” he confirms. “Just to check on some of our sail crossovers and lock down what we think we know in some other performance areas.”
Turn the Tide on Plastic skipper Dee Caffari says she’ll be giving some of her crew who have less offshore miles time on board during the Prologue, as her team makes the transition from training to competition.
“It’s an opportunity to get back into race mode,” she says. “It’s almost a practice of Leg 1, because we’re going from Lisbon to Alicante and that’s going to be the reverse for Leg 1 so it’s nice to suss it out.”
Leg Zero,SHK Onboard,. Video by Konrad Frost/Volvo Ocean Race. 21July,2017..Onboard sailing action
Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag, disappointed with its results this summer during Leg Zero, will be racing with some new crew members and navigator Steve Hayles says the team will be looking to bed in improvements made during practice over the past month.
“I think (on Leg Zero) everything was sub-par, so this is a good chance to put into effect everything we’ve been doing since. We’ve been sailing hard, we’ve done at least as many miles as anyone else, and so this is a good opportunity to cement those changes. Nothing is as good a measure of where you stand as going racing and hopefully we’ve made a big step up in our team performance.”
Rob Greenhalgh, about to embark with the Spanish team MAPFRE on his fifth Volvo Ocean Race, is looking forward to this final look at the opposition.
“It’s pretty important. Everyone’s going to be keen to check in,” he says. “We’ll be keen to race properly… we won’t be backed off. We’ll be going for it!”
Dongfeng Racing team director Bruno Dubois will see his team leave the dock in Lisbon satisfied they have done what they need to do to be ready to race by the start of Leg 1.
“My objective was to make sure we put everything in place and didn’t leave anything to chance,” Dubois explains. “We made a plan and we’ve stayed to it. Maybe someone is going to head out in Leg 1 and be very fast, but we’ve done what we needed to do to make our boat ready and fast for the start of the race. After that, well, it’s a long race.”
Dongfeng Race Team goes sailing in their re-fitted Volvo Ocean 65 as they begin training for the 2017-18 edition.
The weather forecast offers a mixed bag that will get the wrinkles out of all the new sails the teams have installed in Lisbon. The boats will race upwind through the Gibraltar Straight early on Tuesday morning against the infamous Levanter easterly wind that could accelerate to over 30kts, all while penned in by a narrow coast, heavy shipping exclusion zones and coastal fishing nets. Forced into a 1.5-mile wide channel, skippers will be balancing the desire to push for a good result in their last warm-up versus the need to protect new sails that need to last 45,000 miles around the world.
Bouwe Bekking, the skipper of Team Brunel, was very candid about placing a priority on protecting his equipment.
“It’s about finding that balance between pushing the boat, getting it ready, and putting the least amount of hours on the new sails,” he says. “If there is a lot of wind, we’ll want to save our sails… that’s just what we have to do.”
After the Straights, the fleet will continue upwind through the Alboran Sea along the south Spanish coast in an uncomfortable sea state created by fresh easterlies running over the permanent eastwards current created by the Atlantic flowing into the Mediterranean. Turning northwards by Cabo de Gata, the wind is expected to drop to just 5 knots from the east, pushing the homecoming in the Alicante race village deep into Wednesday evening.
“We heard all the stories about how the Race Village in Alicante is nearly ready and everyone is waiting for us to arrive,” Caffari says. “And I know from the moment we arrive, the circus begins and it is pretty much non-stop. The time will fly by and we’ll be crossing that start line and heading away from Alicante for Leg 1 in no time.”
Scallywag, Hong Kong’s first ever entry in the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18, have announced three new crew members, Tom Clout (AUS), António Fontes (POR) and Dutch Olympic Silver medallist, Annemieke Bes (NED).
Skipper David Witt, who previously stated he was intending to sail with a crew of seven men, surprised many race watchers by including Bes as part of his final crew line up. New race rules, designed to incentivise teams to take female crew, limit an all-male crew to seven sailors. Under race rules, a mixed crew can include up to an additional two female sailors.*
Until this announcement, Team Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag was the only boat in the race not to have any female sailors. Witt, who has had time to review his crew decisions since Leg Zero (qualifying) is now more confident in the setup of his team.
“We’re really excited to have these three experienced sailors joining us at Team Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag. Annemieke and Tom have sailed with us before so we know what to expect in terms of their strengths and eeaknesses and where their skills will really enhance our overall performance.
“In addition to these two, António is a great asset, and altogether they have strengthened our team immensely from where we were when we started out two months ago.”
Bes was, until recently, part of team AkzoNobel, the Dutch entry in the race skippered by Simeon Tienpont, but recently made the switch to Witt’s team.
“I really look forward to sailing with Team Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag. I’ve known David from sailing back in Sydney and it’s always good fun to sail with him. The team are a great bunch of guys and we are working hard making final preparations ready for the October start date.”
Neither Clout nor Fontes has Volvo Ocean Race experience but Witt is confident their sailing experience and characters will contribute strongly to the team.
“I’m confident we’re now in a good position ahead of the start of the race and we will continue to improve throughout the legs as we work together as a new team.”
The boats are currently undergoing a final maintenance period in Lisbon ahead of sailing to Alicante for the start of the race on 22 October 2017.
Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag
David Witt (skipper, AUS), Steve Hales (GBR), Luke Parkinson (AUS), Mark Fullerton (NZ), Alex Gough (AUS), Ben Piggott (AUS), David Mann (AUS), John Fisher (UK), Tiger Mok (Hong Kong), Tom Clout (AUS), António Fontes (POR), Annemieke Bes (NED). On Board Reporter: Konrad Frost (GBR).
*Other crew configurations include 10 sailors if the team consists of an even male/female split. An all-female team may race with 11 crew.
Xabi Fernández and his in-form MAPFRE team claimed their second victory in Leg Zero qualifying with another commanding performance in the build-up to the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18.
MAPFRE had a lead of seven nautical miles when they crossed the finish line off the iconic French sailing city of Saint-Malo.
Team Brunel took second place in their first race sailing with new recruit Peter Burling, the Olympic gold medalist and America’s Cup winning helmsman, whose signing was announced just hours before the fleet’s departure from England’s south coast.
Dongfeng Race Team, the Chinese entry with a French skipper, Charles Caudrelier, completed the podium to maintain their own excellent form in the series – and were followed by Vestas 11th Hour Racing, team AkzoNobel, Turn the Tide on Plastic and Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag.
MAPFRE’s latest victory was barely in doubt in a race they dominated following a decisive moment shortly after the Plymouth start. “It’s a very good result for us, and it’s been a really good leg for us from beginning to end,” said MAPFRE skipper Xabi Fernández. “We made some good choices going offshore, finding the sea breeze and beating the current, as we watched the other teams struggle with the current. I’m really pleased with our result.”
MAPFRE chose to dive south with Vestas 11th Hour Racing and Turn the Tide on Plastic. The others chose a route down the coast that required an exhausting gybing duel. When the fleet came back together, the offshore option had paid off, and Brunel and Dongfeng Race Team switched sides to choose the southern option with MAPFRE and Vestas 11th Hour Racing.
The fleet then had to negotiate a barrier of light winds that blocked the route. The calms were narrower in the south and the four boats that had invested in this option slowed but continued moving whereas Sun Hung Kai/ Scallywag went backwards on the tide, completely becalmed.
After the turning mark by the Needles and a drag race across the English Channel, excitement awaited in the tidal acceleration zone next to the French coast.
Just like stepping onto a moving walkway at the airport, the speeds on every boat jumped from 13 knots to 19 as they were pushed by a river of current in the ocean. From there, MAPFRE were never challenged.
For Burling, it was a first experience of racing onboard a One Design Volvo Ocean 65 – and he said that the short race to France was the perfect introduction to the Volvo Ocean Race.
“It’s been great to get out and race – I have a lot to learn but Leg Zero is a really good way for me to ease into this,” said the Kiwi. “I think we’re in good stead for the future considering how little training this team has done.”
Leg Zero, stage 3 results, Plymouth to Saint-Malo:
1. MAPFRE elapsed time 0629 UTC
2. Team Brunel 0710
3. Dongfeng Race Team 0719
4. Vestas 11th Hour Racing 0728
5. Team AkzoNobel 0732
6. Turn the Tide on Plastic 0835
7. Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag 0908
The teams will complete Leg Zero qualifying with a race from Saint-Malo to Lisbon, starting on Sunday at 1050 UTC and with an ETA of Wednesday.
MAPFRE now have a three-point advantage at the top of the Leg Zero standings, with two wins and a runners-up spot from the three races to date. While an overall winner will be declared, no points will be carried forward to the Volvo Ocean Race itself, which starts on 22 October.
Overall Leg Zero standings after 3 of 4 races:
1. MAPFRE 23 points
2. Team Brunel 20
3. Dongfeng Race Team 19
4. Team AkzoNobel 15
5. Vestas 11th Hour Racing 12
6. Turn the Tide on Plastic 9
7. Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag 7
China’s Dongfeng Race Team edged out MAPFRE by just 56 seconds in a Rolex Fastnet Race thriller in the early hours of Wednesday, as an intense night of lead changes and fickle winds ended with the entire fleet separated by less than 40 minutes after more than 600 miles of racing.
Victory for Charles Caudrelier’s team keeps it tight at the top of Leg Zero qualifying for the Volvo Ocean Race – and heralds an epic battle to come when the race around the world begins from Alicante on 22 October.
MAPFRE and Dongfeng had the best start back in Cowes on Sunday, stayed close all the way around the race course and finally finished just metres from each other after fighting all the way to finish line off the Plymouth breakwater.
Dongfeng crossed the line at 04:18:10 local time, with MAPFRE following shortly afterwards at 04:19:06.
Bouwe Bekking’s Team Brunel were next over the line – a result that will give them a massive boost given that their preparations started so late – followed by team AkzoNobel in fourth. Vestas 11th Hour Racing, Team Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag and Turn the Tide on Plastic completed the fleet arrivals – and with just over 39 minutes between the first and last placed boats, they will be boosted by the belief that they can close the gap further by October.
Volvo Ocean 65s in the Rolex Fastnet Race:
1. Dongfeng Race Team: 2 days 15 hours 38 minutes 10 seconds
2. MAPFRE: 2 days 15 hours 39 minutes 06 seconds
3. Team Brunel: 2 days 15 hours 45 minutes 47 seconds
4. team AkzoNobel: 2 days 15 hours 52 minutes 40 seconds
5. Vestas 11th Hour Racing: 2 days 16 hours 09 minutes 11 seconds
6. Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag: 2 days 16 hours 13 minutes 53 seconds
7. Turn the Tide on Plastic: 2 days 16 hours 17 minutes 32 seconds
Dongfeng leveraged their experience on how to set up the boat from the last race, and their crew’s local knowledge of these tricky coastlines, at times demonstrating superior boat speed and superb navigational choices.
Critical moments in their victory were when they regained the lead from team AkzoNobel before the Fastnet rounding and later, perfect navigation on the return from the Rock that saw them split from the fleet on the downwind run and pass through the obstacles around the Scilly Isles with fewer maneuvers.
Leg Zero, Rolex Fastnet Race: Day 2 Morning on board SHK, . Photo by Konrad Frost/Volvo Ocean Race. 07August, 2017
Despite often leading the fleet, Caudrelier revealed at the finish that their victory was far from certain. “We were leading at the Fastnet, leading the downwind and then suddenly, in big clouds we lost everything, we were last! Then another cloud helped us to come back, but afterwards MAPFRE were still there. They came back, passed us but we passed again. It was a nice fight with MAPFRE.”
A testament to the close racing, MAPFRE skipper Xabi Fernández explained that the final finishing order was determined by one crucial gust. Dongfeng were able to furl and drop their masthead zero before MAPFRE and pass the Spanish boat when they were caught out with too much sail up.
“At the end we had a big sail and a 20-knot gust hit us, while Dongfeng had a smaller sail,” explained Xabi. “It’s a pity but it was a very good race for us.”
Brunel’s third place finish – after they grabbed second in the record-breaking race around the Isle of Wight last Wednesday – was another sign that Bouwe Bekking’s team have hit the ground running after announcing their participation only recently.
“The team has done extremely well,” said the Dutchman. “They all dug in 100% and I think everyone can look each other in the eye and say for the time being we got the maximum out of the team. We learnt a heck of a lot. I think that’s the most important thing.”
Overall Leg Zero rankings after 2 of 4 stages:
Mapfre 15 points
Dongfeng Race Team 13
Brunel 13
AkzoNobel 11
Vestas 11th Hour Racing 7
Turn the Tide on Plastic 6
Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag 5
There are two more races to go in the Leg Zero series of qualifiers. On Thursday, the fleet will race from Plymouth to Saint-Malo in France. After a non-scoring Pro-Am Race on Saturday, the teams will complete the series with a race from Saint-Malo to Lisbon, starting on Sunday.
While an overall Leg Zero winner will be declared, based on equal scoring for each of the four stages, no points will be carried forward to the Volvo Ocean Race itself.
Additional reporting: Volvo Ocean Race
Photos: Copyright of their respective owners
Hong Kong’s first ever Volvo Ocean Race entry Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag have announced their crew for the upcoming 2017-18 edition. Led by skipper David Witt, it features a mix of rookies and veterans, including a winner from 2014-15, a history-making navigator back for his sixth edition and local sailor Tiger Mok,.
Australian Luke Parkinson, who won the trophy as a rookie onboard Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing last edition, will race as part of skipper Witt’s crew – and he is joined by navigator Steve Hayles, who returns to the event after almost a decade.
“I’m delighted to have a crew of guys I’ve known for a long time – they’re all great sailors, and we’ve done a lot of miles together over the years” said Witt
Hayles made his debut as a 20-year-old onboard Reebok/Dolphin & Youth in 1993-94 – and still holds the title as the youngest ever navigator to compete in the history of the event. He went on to make it five consecutive races over 15 years, onboard Silk Cut in 1997-98, Team Tyco in 2001-02, Ericsson in 2005-06 and Green Dragon in 2008-09.
Also named in Witt’s squad are New Zealand’s Mark Fullerton, who raced with Brunel in the 2005-06 edition, Briton John Fisher, Hong Kong’s Tiger Mok and Australian trio David Mann, Alex Gough and Ben Piggott.
“Steve Hayles is the best navigator I’ve ever sailed with, and Luke Parkinson comes with bags of Volvo Ocean 65 experience. That’s one of the areas where we’re a little bit light, so he’s a big asset to us and brings a lot to the team.”
“We want to create a team ethos where everyone can reach their potential in whatever their role is – and to do that, you’ve got to trust and respect each other 100%,” Witt added.
“We’re all a team and want to succeed in a team, but we recognise that part of our role is to promote and let everyone be as good as they can in an individual role in the team without ego or conflict.”
“Tiger (Mok) is Hong Kong born and bred, and he’s a great sailor,” continued Witt. “He will race some legs – and he’s also the backup navigator, so will do a lot of onshore navigation and work closely with Steve (Hayles). Having him onboard will help to build the profile of the sport in the region, and encourage kids in Hong Kong to see that there’s a real future in offshore sailing.”
Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag had their first taste of competitive Volvo Ocean 65 action in the opening stage of Leg Zero, the Cowes “Round the Island Race” where they finished last – and now prepare to tackle the Rolex Fastnet Race, starting on 6 August.
Witt added: “We’ve finished with our squad selection for now, but the only thing that’s up in the air with us is whether we need to take more crew on the boat or not. Right now, we’re playing catch up a little bit with all of the idiosyncrasies of the boat. We still think we’re on the right track going with minimal crew – but we’re still open, and that could change as the race draws nearer.”
Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag
David Witt (skipper, AUS), Steve Hales (GBR), Luke Parkinson (AUS), Mark Fullerton (NZ), Alex Gough (AUS), Ben Piggott (AUS), David Mann (AUS), John Fisher (UK), Tiger Mok (Hong Kong). On Board Reporter: Konrad Frost (GBR).
After wining a leg and finishing third overall in it’s first appearance Dongfeng Race Team, the Chinese entry in the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18, announced it’s full crew in Paris as they look to climb to the top step of the podium.
With 160 days to go to the start of the world’s toughest fully-crewed offshore race at Alicante in Spain on 22 October, Dongfeng’s 12-strong sailing squad combines youth with experience. Led for the second consecutive time by Charles Caudrelier of France, the crew counts five Volvo Ocean Race wins, five Olympic campaigns, and 32 Solitaire du Figaro campaigns – including five wins – among its sailors’ achievements.
In addition to Caudrelier, the crew includes Figaro and Transat Jacques Vabre winner Pascal Bidégorry, who returns as navigator. An ocean racing record-setter, Bidégorry was Caudrelier’s righthand man, in the previous edition of the race, and played a key role in the team’s meteo and tactical strategy.
“I wanted a group of people on the boat who will grow stronger in adversity, never give up and have some fun along the way too.”
The French offshore all-rounder Kevin Escoffier, another pillar from the last campaign, is also back in the squad. Escoffier is not only a brilliant offshore sailor but an expert technician and boat builder.
New Zealanders Stu Bannatyne will compete in the race for the eighth time while Daryl Wislang won the last edition with Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing. Also in the sailing team is Jeremie Beyou, the French Vendée Globe podium finisher and one-design offshore specialist, who will be taking on his first Volvo Ocean Race campaign.
The team’s two female stars are Marie Riou of France, a four-time world champion in the Nacra 17 class, and Carolijn Brouwer from Holland who has already sailed the race twice with all-female crews.
On the bow and also helping with helming duties is the up-and-coming Australian/British sailor Jack Bouttell, a veteran of three Figaro campaigns.
As before, Dongfeng Race Team looks to establish offshore ocean racing in China and the crew includes three young Chinese sailors – Yang Jiru (Wolf), Xue Liu (Black) and Jinhao Chen (Horace) – originally selected and trained for the 2014-15 race.
Commenting on the squad Caudrelier said: “I wanted a group of people on the boat who will grow stronger in adversity, never give up and have some fun along the way too.”
He added: “We will be living in close quarters for months. We will be wet, cold, hungry, hot, exhausted and desperate for sleep at times, so the relationships we build have to be strong to withstand those pressures. I am happy with the squad we have assembled and I am confident that we will measure up to the task ahead.”
In this campaign Dongfeng Race Team will look to improve on its impressive debut appearance “The key has been to use our experience from 2014-15 and add to it, not rely on it,” said Team Director, Bruno Dubois at the press conference.
“Appointing Charles Caudrelier as skipper was the first step. I know that Charles is more determined than ever to improve on his superb performance three years ago and he has demonstrated that he has the leadership skills to deal with the unique demands of Dongfeng Race Team. But we have added some new ingredients to the mix – high-achieving men and women who bring experience and a hunger for success that fits our philosophy,” added Dubois.
Hong Kong is set to host its first ever stopover in the Volvo Ocean Race as the race organisers announced today that Hong Kong will be part of the 2017-18 race, which will start from Alicante, Spain in the autumn of 2017, with the fleet scheduled to arrive in Victoria Harbour in February 2018.
Widely acclaimed as the toughest round the world sailing challenge on the planet, the Volvo Ocean Race, originally The Whitbread Round the World Race, was first held in 1973. At a press conference today, Volvo Ocean Race organisers announced to bring the race to Hong Kong for the first time. The world’s premier ocean yacht race will transform the old airport in Kak Tai, with the Race Village offering features to attract sailing fans and those new to the sport.
As the 2014-15 race showed modern one-design ocean racing is hard fought, close and exciting sailing with boats finishing minutes apart after days and thousands of miles of racing. The 2018 Hong Kong stopover will also feature in-port racing, giving spectators the opportunity for a closer look and to experience the thrilling atmosphere of competitive sailing.
Antonio Bolanos Lopez, acting CEO of the Volvo Ocean Race, said “I am thrilled that the race is visiting one of the most iconic and beautiful ports in the world for the first time. We are delighted to welcome Hong Kong to the Volvo Ocean Race family and know that we will have a stopover here, which will be one of the highlights of the 2017-18 edition.”
Hong Kong brings the confirmed list of stopovers so far for the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18 edition to nine, which already includes Alicante, Auckland, Cape Town, Cardiff, Newport (USA), Lisbon, Gothenburg and The Hague.
